Should Cardinal Mahony Stay Home (or Go to Rome)?

Cardinal Roger Mahony has been removed from all public duties by LA's Archbishop José Gomez because of the child sex-abuse scandal. Mahony will be questioned about that in court, under oath, this coming Saturday. Then he's scheduled to board a plane for Rome to help elect the next Pope. Nobody can prevent that, but there's a grassroots movement to persuade him to stay home. The national advocacy group Catholics United has organized a petition. When Famiglia Cristiana, one of Italy's most widely-read Catholic affairs magazines, asked readers if Mahony should participate in the papal election, the overwhelming majority of 350 respondents said, "No."